Novena to the Holy Spirit: Prayers and Meditations in Preparation for Pentecost

From Slaying Dragons Press Classics, this reprint of Novena to the Holy Spirit includes an introduction about the Church’s high esteem for this great Doctor of the Church.

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Our hearts have become the altars of God upon which He desires that the “fire of His divine love,” should always be burning. It is for this reason that the Eternal Father was not satisfied with sending only His eternal Son to us, but longed to send to us the Holy Spirit as well, that He might dwell in our souls “and keep them constantly on fire with love.”

St. Alphonsus said, “Love is also called dew, because it cools the heart of bad passions and of temptations. Therefore the Holy Ghost is also called refreshment and cooling in the heat. This dew descends into our hearts in the time of prayer.” By this reliance upon the action of the Holy Spirit, St. Alphonsus teaches that every disordered passion of ours will be appeased, and we will come to know that peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

These insights of St. Alphonsus Liguori are among the many which fill this book. They are sure to awaken in the reader, and in particular the one who prays through this Novena, a deep desire to do God’s will that this divine fire may be always burning in his soul.

St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696 – 1787), was a zealous missionary, exemplary bishop, miracle worker, and prolific writer whose praises were sung by the whole Church during his life and after his death. Following his departure from this world, the Pope was inundated with requests to list St. Alphonsus Liguori among the great Doctors of the Church, an honor which his writings, capturing the hearts of all who take hold of them, testify he is worthy. The two works presented here are just a small part of the great writings he has left to the Church.